Sunshade for automobiles



Dec. 27, 1932.

B. F. WALKER SUNSHADE FOR AUTOMOBILES Filed Nov. lO, 195@ 2 Sheets-SheeINVENTOR B .E Wup' BY QW?? .QAM

ATTORNEY Dec. 27, 1932. B. F. WALKER 1,892,558

SUNSHADE FOR AUTOMOBILES Filed Nov. lO, 1930 2 Sheets-Shee 2 INVENTOR B.E VV-'ar/Lkez" ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 27, 1932 UNITED sgira'rE-sf Effosmosi I BENJAMIN FLWALKER; OF STOC-KTON', CALIFORNIAQ SUNSHJADE'FORAUT'OMOBIISES Appicatvon 1ed:November11O,1930.2 Serial N; 494,480.'2

This invention relates to sunshades Drawningse for the=vv1ndowsfoautomobiles and.

which yare used. to keep;d the rays. ot the. sun

from directly strik-ing the occupants of: the. 5 car. Withoutneeessitating; the p ulllng down oftheinterior WindowY shades, or..curtains. 1f.

any.

toi provide a sunshade..structuresoff this gen- 1o eral characterVwhich-may begeasily applied to any door orfbodywindow ofafcar;`onewhichl may:v be adjusted 1 as. to eitslprojecting extent from theinteriorofthe car Without-f openingthe Window; one Whiehmay bereadf ilyadjusted to beset.atdiferentrangles `to a horizontalA plane without.interfering `with the irstnamedV adjustments; and one which when .not inuse may beolded up in a. compact form so as to project but slightlyfrom,

v2o the car and which whetherfoldedor unfolded Will present a neat andattractiveappear: ance.-

ducea simpleand inexpensivedevice andyet one which will. beexceednglyeffective for thepurpose for which itzis designed.

These objects IE accomplish .by means of suchstructure and relativearrangement of parts as will fully appear by. a. perusal'fof 3o thefollowingv specification andclaimsev In the drawingssimilar. charactersoffresierence indicate corresponding parts in the several views:

Fig. l isa fragmentary perspective view of an automobile showing myimproved shade as applied thereto' and` inits fully' extended position;

Fig. 2 is a similar'vieW-shovving theshade foldedk or rolledup:

shade supporting meansextended With-the shade itself removed;

F ig. 4 is a transverse section of' the extended shade andthe .controlmeans-.for the shadev roller.A

The principal objects of myiinventionare;

A further object .ofthe-invention isitopro Fig; 'isra top plan lviewofone'end'of the Fig. .5 -is -a viemsimilar; to Fig. showing. theesi'adesupporting;` means 1 folded, on col-- apse Fi g. 6 is affragmentaryjperspective-viewzoff a slidev rack -andiinger pawl unit.

Eiga. 7 is-` as fragmentary; perspective view showing-@heranounting ymeans for the shadev roller; and the shade supporting--r arms.-

Referring.; now-,moire particularly to the:

characterso-i'reference on the `drawings, the.v 57;,-

nnmer'al l: denotes the;` shade` roller. whichy extendsssubstantiallythen-full length of the. Window Zito -Whiehit isto :be applied. The.yroller) is provided'with rend spindles 3 Which engage sockets providedin the adjacent ends 6o of .screws l which areradjustably mounted, inhraeketears Eifer aftpurposexvvhich- Willbe seen laterzV When thestructure; isv built into cai-stat the :factory: these ears could beinte-- gral `Withiorfpermanently mo-untedon the v body`Y orldoor;sheathing,V butwvhen applied to cars-already out sadearsarerigidlyv` o0nneeted togetherby.ai plate: 6V which vis sere-Wed orotherwisefastened onto thedoor 7 or, onto; theV bodyabove thecorresponding Window;

Qne edge :oa fleXible-shadeelement8fis secured te the.4 roller so.thatit may be Wrapped; about l the same, Whileitsopposite f endissecured ftoal rigid bar 9. The shade is supportedwhen extended'at adesired anglerelative; to horizontali plane. transversely of the-carbyfolding arm units extending. between the brackets ears and `the -bar 9at the ends of the latter. The arm 1units each 80;

and in a. substantially vertical plane so that the said members can foldin a horizontal plane. The opposite end of the block abuts against theinner face of the bracket ear 5. A rigid washer member 14 abuts againstthe opposite face of the block in alinement with the ear and is recessedinto the block as shown in Fig. 7.

The washer extends to the plate 6 and abuts flatly thereagainst so thatit cannot turn. The screw l passes through the ear, block, and washer,and is threaded in the ear and washer. By this means not only do the`opposed screws form the bearings for the roller f spindles but alsoprovide means for clamping theblocks 13 firmly in place, while allowingthem to be turned up or down somewhat about said screws as an axis.Since the arm members are rigid with the block in a vertical plane suchmovement of the blocks turns the arms up or down also and of coursealters the angular setting of the shade roll to a horizontal plane. Theshade extends to the bar from over the roller, as shown in Fig. 4, sothat said arms may fold under the shade.

Springs 15 are applied to lthe arm members and act to normally hold thesame extended, so that the shade will likewise be held extended. Torotate the roller so that the shade will be wound thereon, and the armunits moved to a folded position against the resistance of the springs,and to also hold said springs constantly under tension so that the shadewill always be taut, I provide the following means:

Mounted on the inside of the door in transverse alinement with one endor the other of the roller, as may be most convenient according to theparticular design of car, is a verJ tical guide bar 16. Slidably mountedin this bar'for movement lengthwise of the same is a slide block 17having an outwardly nroj ecting finger piece 18 rigid therewith. ivotedin connection with the block above the finger piece is a. pawl 19 whichis adapted to engage a row of ratchet teeth 20 or the like provided inthe bottom of the guide. The ratchets and pawl are arranged so as tohold the slide block against upward movement in the guide and the pawlmay be released at will from the ratchet teeth by means of a finger pad21 which is provided with the pawl and which extends outwardly therefromin overhanging relation to the finger piece 18, as shown in Fig. 6.

Fastened at one end to the pawl above its pivot is a flexible element 22which is preferably in the form of a thin fiat metal band, so that ithas little or no tendency to stretch. This band extends tothe top of theguide over a pulley 23 and turns through a hole 24 cut transverselythrough the door and the bracket plate 6 on a level with the top of theroller'. Outwardly of the door said element 22 is wrapped about andsecured to the adjacent end of the roller beyond the shade. The bandpasses about the roller from the top so that with a pull on the band thelatter becomes unwound from the roller as the latter rotates, while theshade is rolled thereon. lVhen the `slide block is at the top of theguide the shade necessary to prevent such extension of the shade aswould cause the members of the arm units to move to a full dead-centerposition relative to each other, which would of course prevent orseriously interfere with the desired folding movement of the same. Inother words said arm members even when the shade is fully extended aredisposed so that they assume an angle of less than 180 degrees vwitheach other, and so that the 1ncluded angle faces toward the adjacent endof the shade. This of course enables and causes said arm units whenfolding up to project under the shade instead of folding in the oppositedirection or beyond the ends of the shade. Since the springs 15 areconstantly tending to straighten the arm units they alsov L.. exertaconstant effect on the shade, the roller,

and the band 22, so that the shade and said band are always` undertension. It 1s .therefore unnecessary to apply a spring directly to thepawl to hold the same engaged with the guide bar ratchets, since thenatural and constant pull of the bands on said pawl automatically holdsit in engagement with the ratchet. From the foregoing description itwill be readily seen that I have produced such a device as willsubstantially fulfill the objects of the invention as set forth herein.

While this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferredconstruction of the device, still in practice such deviations from suchdetail may be resorted to as do not form a departure from the spirit ofthe invention, as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and useful anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is j j 1. In a sunshade includingspaced bracket ears,fa roller extending between the ears and having endspindles, and arm units, a shade element secured along one edge to theroller and arm units extending between the ears and the opposite edge ofthe roller; blocks on the arm units abutted against` the inner adjacentfaces of the ears, washer elements abutting against the opposite facesof the blocks, and combination clamping and pivot screws passing throughthe contactin T ears, blocks and washers the adjacent inner ends of thescrews iro being bored to a certa-in depth to formV bearings for theroller-spindles.

2. In a sunshade including spaced bracket ears, a roller extendingbetween the ears and having end spindles, and arm units, a shade elementsecured along one edge to the roller and arm units extending between theears and the opposite edge of the roller; blocks on the arm unitsabutted against the inner adjacent faces of the ears, and a common meansfor yieldably and pivotally clamping the blocks against the ears and forsupporting the roller-spindles.

In testimony whereof I aiiX my signature. BENJAMIN F. WALKER.

